Zoe's story
by Nyacandy
Summary: It's a starry night on the Argo II and Percy decides to tell his friends about his old friend Zoe Nightshade and their quest to save Artemis and Annabeth.
1. Chapter 1

The night was peaceful. The moonlight reflected off the sea, making the water glimmer. The stars shone brilliantly in the sky, lighting up the world. The crew of the Argo II was relaxing on the deck, snuggling up on the couches with blankets and gazing at the stars. They made casual conversation, though each of them was thinking about what lay ahead of them on their quest. When a silence passed over them it was hazel who spoke first.

"Hey Percy what's up with you? You've been oddly quiet."

"Huh?" Percy was gazing intently at the stars but looked over at Hazel in surprise.

"Yeah man you've been acting all weird" Jason said. Percy went back to staring at the sky and was quiet for a few moments. Without looking at any of them he pointed at a constellation in the sky. "What does that look like to you guys?" he asked.

"It looks like a girl running across the sky" Leo said.

"Is she holding a bow in her hands?" Frank asked.

"Her name was Zoe" Percy said. His face was a mixture of sadness and pain and something else that his friends couldn't place. His voice was soft and low. "Zoe Nightshade". Annabeth, who was snuggled against Percy, sat up and looked at him with a sad and concerned look on her face. Percy noticed the confused looks on his friends' faces and continued speaking.

"She was lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis. She was brave and loyal and had a good heart. She led the hunt for over 2,000 years."

"Wait" Jason said. "So she was the lieutenant before my sister? What happened to her? And why is she a constellation now?"

Everyone was looking at Percy expectantly, wanting to know more about the huntress. "Well it's kind of a long story"

"Well we've got all night" Piper said, scooching closer to Jason and laying her head on his shoulder. Percy sighed. "Well then I guess I better tell you guys the story. I'm going to need Annabeth's help for it, because she was there, at least for a short time." Annabeth grimaced. "Yeah, it wasn't exactly the best time in our lives." "When is it ever?" Percy agreed.

"So anyway, we were 14 at the time. It was the winter after our quest for the golden fleece that healed Thalia's tree and brought her back to life."

"Wait, Jason, your sister was a tree?" Leo asked.

"That's a story for another time" Annabeth said.

Percy continued."So Annabeth, Thalia, and I were on a mission. Grover had called us to go to this school called Westover Hall because he found two powerful half-bloods, who turned out to be Bianca and Nico Di Angelo. So fast forward a bit a manticore disguised as the vice principle, Dr. Thorn, tried to kidnap them, so the four of us went to go save them."

"And that's when things started to go wrong" Annabeth said. "The manticore was about to kill Thalia and Percy when the hunters arrived."

"Zoe was one of the oldest hunters. She had long black hair, copper skin, and a silver circlet braided into her hair that only the lieutenant wore. She absolutely hated me when we first met."

"Hmm I wonder why." Annabeth mused.

"Ha-ha" Percy said. "So the manticore lunged at me and Thalia because he knew we were weak. Annabeth jumped on its back and stabbed him."

Leo whistled. "Remind me never to mess with Annabeth"

"The hunters fired their arrows at the manticore and he jumped off the edge of the cliff with Annabeth still on his back."

"What happened? Were you captured?" Piper asked Annabeth.

"Yeah, well you'll find out what happened." Annabeth said.

"So it turns out that Zoe and Thalia knew each other because Zoe tried to recruit her for the hunt a few years back. They hated each other's guts. I also found out that this 12 year old girl turned out to be Artemis. I guess she likes to look like her hunter's or something like that. So Artemis calls me into her tent to find out what happened with the manticore, who said that some monster was going to bring about the downfall of Olympus. He also said something about a general who you'll find out about later."

"She offered Bianca a chance to join the hunt and she accepted. Meanwhile, Artemis left to go hunt this dangerous monster. She called Apollo to give us and the hunters a ride to camp. By the way, if Apollo ever asks you if you want to hear one of his haiku's say no."

"Why do we have to...?" Hazel started.

"Just say no" Percy said. "So Apollo picks us up in his sun chariot, and changes it to bus mode. Then he makes Thalia drive it..."

"Thalia got to drive the sun chariot? Not fair!" Jason exclaimed.

"Yeah but the thing is, Thalia is afraid of heights." Percy said.

"The daughter of Zeus scared of heights?" Piper shook her head.

"Yeah, weird huh? So Thalia is driving this bus in the air and is totally freaking out. She's catching random buildings and trees on fire. Then we crash-land into the Camp Half-Blood canoe lake. The next day we played capture the flag against the hunters. Me and Thalia got to their flag and I grabbed it, but Zoe was too quick and got across the creek before me, and the hunters won for the 56th time in a row."

"Thalia got pissed at me because I got the flag when she was going to. We started arguing and then a fight broke out. She blasted me with lightning."

"Hey, kind of like Jason." Leo said.

"Whatever" Percy rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I was about to throw all of the water in the creek at Thalia, when the weirdest thing happened. The oracle, the withered mummy herself, came out of the attic and issued a prophecy for Zoe."

"Wait" Piper said. "The oracle is a mummy? I thought Rachel Dare was the oracle."

"Well the oracle being a mummy is a whole other story in itself, something I didn't even learn about until the titan war, which is also when Rachel became the oracle." Percy said "I'll tell you about it some other time."

"So the prophecy went like this."

" _Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, One shall be lost in the land without rain, The bane of Olympus shows the trail, Campers and Hunters combined prevail, The Titan's curse must one withstand, And one shall perish by a parent's hand."_

Everyone was quiet for a few moments.

"So... that sounds like fun." Leo said.

"Whose parent would kill them? That's horrible!" Hazel cried.

"So two people were destined to die on this quest?" Frank asked.

"Why do goddesses keep getting chained?" Jason asked.

"What's the Titan's curse?" Piper asked.

Percy and Annabeth shared a knowing look. "All of your questions will be answered soon." Annabeth assured them.

Percy continued. "So me and Grover got the super fun job of taking the oracle back to the attic. After that, we had a war counsel to see who would go on the quest to save Artemis before the winter solstice. It was decided that Zoe, Thalia, Grover, Bianca, and this hunter named Phoebe would go. Then I realized that I wasn't one of the people on the quest, and I tried to complain but they wouldn't let me go."

"Aww" Annabeth teased. "Seaweed brain can't be the hero for once."

"Shut up" Percy said. "You know I was just going to save you." They shared a kiss.

"Aww" Piper exclaimed.

"Get a room!" Leo said.

"I Iris messaged my mom and she basically told me to go on the quest anyway. That night I had a dream that Annabeth was holding the weight of some dark mass. It was almost crushing her. Luke had tricked her into holding it for him. Then some man in the shadows brought out Artemis. She had cuts in different places and was bleeding golden ichor. Her hands and feet were in chains. She took the dark mass from Annabeth before she could die."

"Oh gods... Annabeth" Jason said.

"It's fine" Annabeth said. "I'm fine. I mean, Percy probably had it as bad as me. He went through the same thing."

"So what was the mysterious black mass?" Leo asked.

"I can't say that yet, because then you'll find out who the general is" Percy said. "You'll see later."

"I woke up to blackjack banging on my cabin door. It was still the middle of the night. He took me to the sea because another sea creature needed my help."

"What do they need your help with?" Hazel asked.

"Just about everything thing from rescuing to hangnails. So this particular sea creature was tangled in an old fishing net. It was a weird creature with the front half of a calf and the back half of a serpent. Me and these hippocampi got the net untangled and he was free. I named her Bessie. I didn't know it at the time, but Bessie was going to play a huge part in the quest."

"On my way back to my cabin I saw Nico spying on Bianca and Zoe, who were arguing at the pavilion. I put Annabeth's invisible cap on and spied on them too. It turns out that the Stolls had pranked Phoebe, and she was too hurt to go on the quest, but Zoe didn't want to replace her."

"They left and I made myself visible to Nico and found out that he was going to try to go on the quest with them. I told him that I was gonna go and I promised to do my best to keep his sister safe. I..." Percy faltered.

"It was not your fault Percy" Annabeth said softly.

"I know. It's just..." Percy struggled to find the words.

"What happened?" Hazel asked.

"I'll just continue" Percy said. "Blackjack picked me up, and we followed the camp van into Manhattan. We stopped on a building and just as we were leaving, grape vines wrapped around us so we couldn't leave. Mr. D caught us."

"Who's Mr. D?" Hazel and Frank asked.

"Dionysus" Annabeth answered. "He runs our camp"

"A god runs you camp?" Frank asked, dumbfounded.

"Oh trust me; Camp Jupiter is lucky that they have praetors." Percy said. "It's better than having someone mispronounce your name all the time and threaten to turn you into a dolphin daily"

"Agreed" Annabeth said.

"I thought he was going to send me back to camp or kill me, but instead he told me the story of Ariadne and Theseus and how he broke her heart. Then Dionysus married her."

"Dionysus has a wife?" Annabeth exclaimed.

"I know right!" Percy said.

"So he tells me that the reason he doesn't like demigods is because they are selfish, ungrateful, and they use people. He told me to ask Zoe Nightshade about that, but I didn't know what he meant at the time. Then he said I could go."

"He let you go just like that?" Jason asked.

"Not before telling me that he hoped I would be one of the people that died" Percy said.

"That's horrible!" Piper exclaimed.

"Yeah well, that's Mr. D for you. He told me that live or die, I wouldn't prove any better than all of the other heroes. Then Blackjack and I continued to follow them."

"So he basically thought you were going to die anyway" Leo said.

"Yeah pretty much" Percy agreed.

"Well on that happy note I gotta use the little mechanics room. See ya in a bit peeps!"

Everyone groaned. "Hurry up repair boy!" Piper yelled.

"I guess all start back up again when Leo comes back" Percy said.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading my story! It was getting pretty long, so I'm gonna separate this story into two or three chapters. Feel free to review if you have any suggetions. Also, if the story is too descriptive and long I'll shorten the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

After a very, very long bathroom break, Leo finally came back. Percy continued with the story.

"We followed them for a while until Zoe finally stopped in Maryland. Blackjack was really tired so we stopped and I used Annabeth's invisibility cap to go to a convenience store."

"Invisibility cap?" Leo asked. "That's so cool! How come you don't use it on the quest Annabeth?"

Annabeth grimaced. "It hasn't been working since the whole mark of Athena quest."

"Right when I was walking into the store, the whole quest group was walking out. They were talking about how they were going to D.C. next. I also heard Zoe say that she had been driving since cars were invented, which made me wonder how old she was and what bad experiences she had with heroes."

"Once the van stopped in Washington, Blackjack was tired so I told him to drop me off and go back to camp. Zoe and everyone else started walking to this mall, and I was about to follow before I saw someone else following them. It was none other than Dr. Thorn, the great manticore himself. I followed him with the invisibility cap. He followed the group until they went into National Air and Space Museum. Then he turned and headed into the Museum of Natural History, so I decided to follow him instead of the group."

"The view inside of the room was horrible. There were a bunch of mortal guards on the balcony, and also a couple of Scythian dracaenae. Standing between them was Luke, who looked really horrible. You guys heard about Luke at camp right?"

"You mean the one that raised Kronos and started the whole Titan war last summer?" Jason asked. "We heard all about him."

Hazel raised her hand."Um, me and Frank don't know who this Luke guy is."

Annabeth quickly filled them in on some background information about Luke. Then Percy continued.

"The general was there, though I couldn't see his face. Thorn told him about who was on the quest and where they were. Luke wanted to go after them, but the general assured that he had a 'playmate' for them. The general got up from his throne, and I got my first look at him. He looked like he was born to be a commander. He was tall and buff, with a brutal face, dark hair, and brown skin. He wore one of those really expensive silk suits. He looked very scary."

"The General said that he wanted to isolate Thalia, because the monster they were seeking would come to her. I didn't realize what he meant at the moment. The General also got really mad when Luke mentioned Zoe."

"The General made one of the mortal guards plant some teeth in the middle of the room, where there was a big pile of dirt. He watered it with this dark red liquid and a kitten came out of the ground. It was a saber toothed tiger cub."

"Does that remind you of anyone Annabeth?" Percy smiled at her.

Annabeth looked confused for a second before she broke out into a grin."Small Bob!" She exclaimed.

Everyone else smiled smile too, remembering Small Bob from Percy and Annabeth's Tartarus story.

"A bunch of other ones came out too. The General got really mad because the guard was supposed to bring the tyrannosaurus teeth. He got rid of the kittens and made a guard get the right teeth. Once he got them, he planted them and a dozen skeleton warriors came out of the ground. He said that once they caught their scent, they would keep pursuing their prey relentlessly. No weapon could kill them. Then one of the snake ladies took out a piece of silvery fabric that I knew was from a hunter."

"The skeletons almost looked like humans, though they were transparent. They had dull gray skin and were dressed in modern clothes. The general was about to hand them the fabric, so I knew I had to act fast. I jumped at the warriors and snatched the fabric before they could get the scent. As I was running away, one of the skeletons ripped a piece of my sleeve off and they started sniffing it, catching my scent. The guards ran after me but I got out of the door in time."

"I took off the invisibility cap and ran through the museum. Then I ran right into Thalia. They were mad at me for coming, and Zoe almost shot me with an arrow. I told them about everything that had just happened. Zoe seemed like she couldn't believe that the general was there. We were about to leave when Zoe and Thalia started arguing. Then we heard a loud growl."

"It turned out to be the Nemean Lion. It was huge, with glittering gold fur and silver claws. Some little girl thought it was a kitty."

"The mist is very powerful." Annabeth muttered.

"We separated and tried to think of a way to kill it, but that was kind of impossible. The thing had invincible skin. Zoe and Bianca shot arrows at it, but they didn't do anything. Thalia distracted it with Aegis, but the lion almost jumped onto her. I couldn't let anyone get hurt, so I slashed at the lion with Riptide. It bounced off, and the lion was about to jump on me, so I turned and jumped off of the railing."

"I landed on an airplane, but the lion jumped on it as well. I figured out that its mouth would be a good target, so I told the hunters to aim for it. I jumped off and told Grover to clear the area using his pipes. Thalia kept the lion occupied while I ran to the gift shop to get space food."

"Leave it to Percy to think about eating at a time like that." Jason smirked.

"I was not." Percy protested. "My mom and I visited the Smithsonian once, and I begged her to buy me space food. The stuff is repulsive. I grabbed a bunch and ran back out of the shop. The lion swatted at Thalia and she went flying, but I wasn't close enough to it. I threw my sword at it to get its attention. I charged at it, and once it leapt at me, I threw the space food into its mouth. It gagged so hard. It was awesome."

"I kept throwing more into its mouth, and while its mouth was still open, Zoe and Bianca shot a ton of arrows into it. The monster fell and was still."

Leo looked impressed. "Remind me to use that method next time."

"The lion melted away, and left behind a fur. Zoe told me to take it even though she killed it, because the space food was my idea. When I picked the fur up it became a coat.

"Our victory was short lived, because we saw the skeleton warriors coming after us. I was going to stay behind and distract them, but Zoe said that I was the fifth member of the quest, and that they weren't leaving anyone behind."

"I guess it was fate." Piper said.

"Um actually it was your mom." Percy said.

"What?" Piper asked.

"That part of the story is coming up soon." Percy said. "And it's not a fun one."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry I took so long to update! I've been really overwhelmed with school, but I'll make sure to update sooner and make the next chapter longer.**


	3. Chapter 3

"We tried to make a getaway in the van, but a helicopter was following us. We left the van in a parking lot and Bianca led us to a subway entrance, where we got safely on a train. It was really weird, because Bianca said that when she and Nico lived there as kids, the train station hadn't been there. Then when she and Nico went through the year before, the train station was there. We were all really confused, because the train station was obviously a lot older than Bianca was."

"We didn't have time to talk about it, because the helicopter was following us and we had to change trains. When we got off of the train, we reached a dead end. We walked around the railway yard until we ran into this homeless guy who let us share his trash can fire."

"He said 'You're never completely without friends', and then he asked us if we needed a train going west, and one just appeared. When we turned to thank him, he had disappeared."

"Hmmm let me guess." Leo said. "A god in disguise?"

"Yup. We all got on the train and rode in our own luxury car. I had a talk with Thalia, and let's just say it didn't go well."

"It was probably your fault." Annabeth said.

Percy sighed. "It was a sore topic, ok? We talked about the quest, and then I realized that Zoe probably tried to get Thalia to join the hunters, and that's why they didn't like each other. She told me that she, Luke, and Annabeth ran into them once, but she didn't join because she would've had to leave Luke. She and Zoe had gotten into a fight, and Zoe said that Luke would let her down someday. I stupidly said that Zoe was right."

"Really, Percy?" Piper shook her head at him.

"Ok I'll admit, it probably wasn't the best thing to say. I told her that we would have to fight him, and that she might even have to kill him. She got mad at me, and told me to leave her car. When I was leaving, she told me that Annabeth wanted to join the hunters, and that I should think about why."

Then Percy turned to Annabeth. "I still can't believe you were going to join."

"Percy, we will not have this argument again."

"Ok, but I gave up immortality in a split second for you. And you were going to leave me to become a hunter. How is that fair?"

"Ok, but this was before we even started dating, and before we got really close. I had already told you that I wanted something permanent. And the hunters were permanent."

"OK, but did you take a second to think about me and how I would feel if I lost you?"

"Percy, that was almost three years ago, let it go."

"I can't let it go. Think about how different things would've been if you had joined. We wouldn't be together!"

"How about when you were about to become a god? How do you think I felt? I thought I was going to lose you!"

They argued like this for a few minutes until Jason finally intervened.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Could you guys please stop arguing and continue. You're lovers spat is really starting to get annoying."

"Fine." Percy said. "After Thalia kicked me out, I went into Grover's car, but he was asleep. Then the homeless guy randomly appeared and told me to not be afraid of dreams. He said a really bad haiku, and I knew that he was really Apollo. He named himself Fred, because gods aren't supposed to interfere with human quests, but he wanted to help Artemis. He made the train move fast to speed us along. He told me that when we got to San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the old man of the sea. He left and I fell asleep. Naturally, I had a dream."

Everyone groaned internally, knowing how demigod dreams were.

"In my dream, I was in the body of the hero. I had on a Greek tunic and the Nemean Lion skin in the form of a cape. I was running, and being pulled along by a girl. It was nighttime, and we were in a beautiful garden. The girl had long dark hair and silk robes. I was telling her that I wasn't scared of the dragon Ladon, but she told me that I couldn't defeat him. She told me to go up the mountain and trick her father."

"She gave me a hairpin, and told me to take it to fight with. She said that her mother Pleione gave it to her, and that it held the power of the ocean within it, and her immortal power. The pin transformed into a sword."

Percy pulled out his pen and uncapped it. "My sword, Anaklusmos."

"After that, Ladon started approaching, and the dream cut off. Only after I woke up did I realize that the girl in my dream was Zoe."

"When we woke up, we went into this small town. There was only a couple of buildings, and basically no way out of it. Zoe and Grover went to get food while Thalia, Bianca, and I went to the grocery store to get directions. We didn't find anything, but I bought a rubber rat. Thalia went to check another store and Bianca and I talked about her becoming a hunter. She also said that Nico didn't understand her decision to join the hunt. Then I asked her about what school they went to before Westover."

"She said that they went to a boarding school in D.C. They were told that their parents were dead, and that they had a bank trust. A lawyer checked on them from time to time. Then a different lawyer came to take them out of that school. They went to a hotel for a few weeks, and then they left and went to Westover. She joined the hunters because she didn't want to constantly be a big sister."

"When Zoe and Grover came back with coffee, something weird happened. A warm breeze blew, like a gust of springtime, even though it was winter. Grover's cup had decorations of birds on it, and then all of a sudden they peeled off and became actual doves. My rubber rat turned into a real rat and ran away. It was really freaky. Then Grover just collapsed."

"Thalia came back and told us we were being followed, so we tried to leave. Then the skeletons appeared and surrounded us. Grover kept on muttering about the 'gift of the wild' or something, so he wasn't much help. I cut a skeleton in half, but it just reformed. Then two of the skeletons shot me in the back, and I fell on the ground."

"Ouch," Leo said. "Remind me why you're not paralyzed right now."

"The Nemean Lion coat was bulletproof, so it saved me. Bianca ended up stabbing one of the skeletons, and it erupted into flames, even though no weapons were supposed to be able to kill it. Then this huge wild boar came charging at us. The Erymanthian boar. He was supposedly the gift from the wild. The pig charged us, and we ran for our lives. The boar charged at me and Thalia and we ran to the edge of a bridge. She was hesitant to jump. So I tackled Thalia off of it, and we slid on aegis down the mountain. That's when I found out that she was afraid of heights."

"Since the pig was supposed to be a ride west, we all got on and Grover used an apple to steer it. Zoe told me that the wind from before was the presence of the god Pan."

"I thought he was missing." Frank said.

"He was, until we found him a couple of years ago. He's dead now."

Franks looked really puzzled."I thought that Gods couldn't die."

"Another very long story." Percy said. "After riding the boar for a while, we finally stopped. The boar couldn't take us any farther, and we ended up in Arizona. Grover did this thing with acorns, and it showed that we had an obstacle up ahead, which turned out to be in the junkyard of the Gods."

"The gods have a junkyard?" Hazel asked. "I thought that all of the stuff they didn't want just ceased to exist when they snapped their fingers."

"Oh, they definitely have a junkyard, and it is not a place you ever want to visit."

"We decided to make camp and go through the junkyard in the morning. We were talking, and then Zoe said that we should hitchhike to the nearest city afterwards, which was Las Vegas. Bianca got really freaked out about it. She said that she and Nico had stayed there for a while. Me and Grover figured out that they had stayed at The Lotus Hotel and Casino."

"Gods I hate that place." Annabeth said.

"What's so bad about it?" Piper asked.

"Me, Percy, and Grover went there on our first quest. It's designed to make you never want to leave. Time is different there. We thought that we had only spent a couple of hours at the hotel, but when we left, we found out that we had been there for five days."

"We found out that Bianca and Nico had been in there for 70 years. We were trying to figure out how the lawyer got them out when a white Limo pulled up."

"Please don't tell me it was Aphrodite." Piper said.

"You guessed it." Percy said. "Her and my old enemy, Ares."

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, it only took me two days to update this time. Please review if you liked it! A few more chapters to go...**


	4. Chapter 4

"Before I go on, I should tell you a little bit about my relationship with Ares. He hates my guts."

"Percy has a knack for pissing off gods." Annabeth put in.

"I can see that." Jason said. "Bacchus almost turned you into a dolphin in Kansas."

"It's a talent of mine." Percy said. "On me, Grover, and Annabeth's first quest to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt, Ares and I had a fight."

"Hold up." Frank said. "You fought my dad? How are you still alive?"

"It's because of my pure awesomeness." Percy said, earning an eye roll from Annabeth.

"Ares had the master bolt and Hade's helm of darkness, so I made him a deal. If we fought and he won, he could take the bolt and turn me into anything he wanted. If I won, Ares had to leave and give me the bolt and the helm of darkness."

"Ares was the thief?" Hazel asked.

"Luke was the actual lightening thief, but Ares caught him. Kronos was manipulating Ares into keeping the bolt and starting a war among the gods. I was accused of stealing the bolt, even though I had literally just found out that I was a demigod."

"What!" Jason exclaimed. "That's crazy man."

Percy sighed. "We live in a world full of crazy, Grace."

"So Ares and I battled. We were by the sea, so I had an advantage. I jumped over Ares on a wave, and ended up stabbing him in the heel. A darkness came over us all of a sudden. It stopped Ares from killing me. Only later on did I realize that it was kronos. Before he left he cursed me, and told me that my sword would fail me in battle one day. That curse will actually be important for later on in this story. But anyway, that's why Ares hates me so much."

Leo whistled. "Even I'm not crazy enough to get on the bad side of the freaking war god."

"So that's why you didn't want to kneel down to him in New Rome." Hazel said. "One day you might just go a little too far Percy."

"Hey, I'm still here aren't I? The gods just love me." He winked and continued with the story.

"Ares got out of the car and pushed the point of his sword under my chin. He told me that 'his lady' wanted to see me. There was this run down taco truck, but he snapped his fingers and it was suddenly open. He made everyone else go get tacos while he shoved me into the limo."

"Needless to say, I was surprised when I got inside. Aphrodite was beautiful, being the love goddess and all. Her face changed constantly, and for a second she even looked like Annabeth. She made me hold a mirror for her so she could do her makeup."

"That would be a sweet job." Leo said dreamily.

"Leo!" Piper exclaimed. "That's my mom! Percy, she didn't give you too much trouble did she?"

"She made me admit that I was only on the quest to save Annabeth. She's actually really difficult to have a conversation with. She makes everything about love. It's horrifying. Then she told me that she gave the Stoll brothers the t-shirt to give to Phoebe so that she wouldn't be able to go on the quest. She also sent Blackjack to help me sneak out of camp. She called it a quest for true love."

"Aww." Leo exclaimed.

"Shut up Valdez. She told me to forget about the quest and everything else, and focus on saving Annabeth. Then she said that there hadn't been a good tragic love story in ages. She compared us to Helen and Paris."

"I think we've had our fair amount of tragic." Annabeth said. "Does it get any worse than Tartarus?"

"Hopefully not. She also told me that she wished that all of her daughters could break the heart of a nice guy like me."

"I'm so glad that I changed that rule." Piper said.

"Before I left, she told me to be careful in her husband's territory, and to not touch anything."

"Hold on." Leo said. "I just realized something. Piper's mom is married to my dad, but is cheating on him with Frank's dad. Is that strange or what?"

Frank and piper looked kind of embarrassed.

"Nah, just your average immortal love triangle." Percy said. "After that, Ares pulled me out of the car and threatened me. I asked him why he hasn't killed me yet, and he said it was because I was supposed to start the biggest war in history. And also because Aphrodite thought that I was a soap opera star or something. He told me to remember his curse, and then he left. Me and my friends ended up in the middle of the junkyard. I told them what happened, then we made our way west."

"The junkyard had all kinds of things in it. Broken chariots, weapons, cars, refrigerators, computer monitors, and things made out of real gold. Most of the stuff didn't even look like junk. Bianca found a hair clip that changed into a hunter's bow, but Zoe made her leave it. We made our way through the junkyard, checking out some cool stuff along the way. We were almost to the end of the junkyard when we came across these really large toes."

"Toes?" Hazel laughed. "What do you mean?"

"There was literally a large foot in our path. They were really creepy, so we decided to go around them. Once we got out of the junkyard, we thought that we were safe. We were so wrong."

"We heard this sound like crushing metal. It turned out that the toes belonged to this huge bronze metal giant in Greek armor. It was as tall as a skyscraper. Zoe said that its name was Talos, but I didn't know who that was."

"What a surprise." Annabeth teased.

"Ha-ha" Percy said. "Thalia explained that it was a defective prototype of one of Hephaestus's creations. Zoe accused me of taking something, but it wasn't me. I thought that Bianca looked guilty, but I was too busy running to think anything of it. We split up, and Bianca and I ended up hiding next to each other. I questioned her about what she had taken. Talos was about to attack us, but Grover used his pipes to move the power lines and shock him."

"Bianca brought out a little metal figurine of a god. She said that it was for Nico, because it was the only figurine that he didn't have."

"How could she be thinking about mythomagic at time like that?" Frank asked.

"I honestly have no idea. I told her to throw it down and see if Talos would leave us alone, but it didn't work. Talos swung his sword at Grover. Luckily it missed, but he got buried over a bunch of scrap metal. Then Thalia zapped him with lightning. When he raised his foot, I got an idea."

"Oh no." Annabeth said.

"Hey, it was a pretty good one. There was a hole in its heel that said it was for maintenance. I realized that if I could get inside, there might be switches to control it. I was about to go when Bianca said that she was going to. I didn't want her to take the risk, because she was so new at everything."

"She told me that it was her fault that the monster came after us, so it was her responsibility. She gave me the statue and told me that if anything happened, give it to Nico. She told me to tell him that she was sorry."

"I told her not to go, but she went anyway. She got next to its foot, and yelled at us to get it to raise it. I stabbed its toe with riptide, and it raised its foot. I ran away so that it wouldn't crush me, so I didn't see Bianca go in."

"I don't think that I'm gonna like what happened next." Hazel said. The general mood darkened.

"No, definitely not." Percy said. "Talos was about to smash Grover with his sword when he started acting funny. He started hitting himself and doing weird movements. Everything was going great until he staggered backwards into some power lines. Electricity shot up its body. Then it started falling apart one limb at a time, until his body crumbled. We searched the wreckage for hours, but we didn't find her."

"Zoe sat down and cried. It was really stunning, seeing someone who was so brave at such a vulnerable state. I didn't want to believe that she was gone. It was early morning, so I suggested that we could still find her. Grover said the harsh truth."

"The prophecy." Jason said. "One shall be lost in the land without rain."

Percy nodded solemnly. "It happened just as it was supposed to. We were in the desert, and Bianca Di Angelo was dead."

"Oh gods." Hazel said. "I can't imagine how Nico must have felt. His sister was everything to him. I wish I could have met her."

"Telling Nico was the hardest part." Percy said. "For a long time after her death, I thought that it was my fault. If only I would have gone in instead, she would still be here."

"You can't think like that man." Jason said. "The deaths are the hardest part about being a demigod. In the end, you just have to realize that you did everything that you could."

"I know that now. It just doesn't get easier, you know? I wrestled with guilt for a long time. I still do sometimes, especially after the Titan war. A lot of good people died. Beckendorf, Silena, Michael yew. It's just not _fair._ "

"I know." Piper said. "It's not fair. Demigods risking their lives every day for ungrateful parents. But Percy, this is our life. We have to make these sacrifices because no one else will. All of those demigods died for a noble cause, and so did Bianca. They are the reason that we keep going. And that's why we're on this quest. We have to make these sacrifices worth it. We can't let Gaia win."

"Thanks Pipes, I needed that." Percy said.

"You're welcome." Piper said. "But don't call me Pipes."

"Hey, its got a ring to it."

"So Bianca was gone, and we were all heartbroken. She really was a nice person to talk to. I just wish I could've gotten to know her a little better. We were all still pretty stunned but we had to keep going."

"Could you guys please get out of this depressing mood? It's really..." Percy tried to find the word.

"Depressing?" Leo suggested.

"Exactly."Percy said.

"Well it wasn't exactly a very cheerful part of the story, Percy." Annabeth said.

"Well, the next part of the story should cheer you up. It's a dam good one."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter! Please review and let me know if you like chapters that have a lot of comments from the rest of the seven. I like that they are involved in the story, because it's more realistic. But if you guys don't like the comments then I can put less and get through the story faster.**


	5. Chapter 5

"After Bianca's death we were all pretty stunned but Thalia reminded us that we had to keep moving. We found an old tow truck at the edge of the dump so we borrowed it and kept going. The truck ran out of gas at a river canyon. We came to a river and had to go upstream. We got some canoes and some naiads pushed us up the river."

"Man, those naiads at camp half blood are so hot. Those underwater babes can push me upstream _any_ day."

"Leo." Piper chided.

"Uh, but of course none of them compare to Calypso. She's so beautiful."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we were in the canoe and one of the naiads splashed Zoe with water. She said they had never forgiven her, but she didn't tell me what that meant. She told me that she wanted Bianca to go on the quest so she could become the next lieutenant. She blamed herself for Artemis getting captured, even though she couldn't have done anything."

"Sounds like someone I know." Annabeth said.

"I wonder if I've met him." Percy scratched his head. "No I don't think I have." Annabeth slapped his arm playfully.

"I showed Zoe my sword and confronted her about making it. She said that it was a gift and a mistake. When I asked her who the hero was, she got really offended. She'd sworn never to speak his name again. When I asked her if I should know him, she said, 'I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?'"

"Wow, she must really hate guys. No wonder she became a hunter." Jason said.

"Zoe's mother was Pleione. She was one of her five daughters, the Hesperides."

Piper frowned. "But there are only four sisters."

"Now there are. Zoe was exiled from her family for helping the hero. Zoe gave him the idea of how to steal the golden apples and trick Atlas. He never gave Zoe any credit."

"That must've been horrible for her." Hazel sympathized.

Jason snapped his fingers. "Hercules! It was him, wasn't it? He was a popular hero, so everyone would want to be like him. And his eleventh labor was stealing the apples of the Hesperides."

"It make sense." Piper said. "He is a real jerk."

Percy nodded. "It was Hercules. You are absolutely right, Piper. He is a jerk."

"The Naiads stopped pushing us because the Hoover dam was blocking our path. We decided to go check it out for Annabeths sake."

Annabeth sighed." The Hoover dam is one of my favorites. I can't believe you went without me."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have gotten yourself kidnapped," Percy said, earning a punch from Annabeth.

"Ouch. Anyway, we got to the dam and decided to go get some food. Zoe said we should find the dam snack bar, and Thalia, Grover, and I lost it. We started making jokes about the dam fries and the dam water fountain."

"Why was that so funny?" Hazel asked.

Percy laughed. "I don't really know. I guess we were just tired. But Zoe didn't get it. That was hilarious."

Frank raised his hand almost shyly. "Uh, I don't get it either."

The rest of the seven busted out laughing. "Dude," Leo shook his head at Frank.

"What?" Frank asked.

After everyone calmed down enough, Percy continued.

"We kept on laughing until we heard a moo."

"A moo?" Jason asked.

"A moo." Percy confirmed. "I knew what it was, so I told everyone to go ahead while I stayed behind for a bit. I went over to the edge of the dam and sure enough, Bessie was there. How she got there, I don't know. She tried to get me to go somewhere with her, but I couldn't leave everyone behind. Bessie left, and I spotted one of the skeletons."

"I ran toward the visitation center, but more arrived and I was surrounded. I ran into an elevator with a tour group going down to the turbines. Inside, I met this weird tour guide. She had long black hair and these startling gray eyes. Once everyone got out, she stopped me."

"She told me that there was always a way out for those clever enough to find it. That was really weird, but I was too busy trying to find an escape to think about it. All of a sudden, I heard a sound behind me and I thought it was a skeleton so I swung my sword. It turned out to be a mortal girl."

"You swung a sword at a mortal! Gods Percy what's wrong with you?" Piper exclaimed.

Jason shrugged. " I mean, it's not like it hurt her. She probably didn't even know what it was because of the mist."

"And that's where you're wrong, my friend. This girl wasn't a regular mortal. She could see through the mist."

"Talk about bad luck." Leo said.

"She saw my sword and asked me a million questions. She even saw my Neman lion coat for what it really was. Then all of a sudden she pushed me into the bathroom. She ended up distracting the skeletons and pretty much saved my life."

"So a mortal girl ended up saving your butt. Huh." Leo said.

"It happens more often than you think." Percy said. "Anyway, this wasn't just any mortal girl, it was Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

"So you met the oracle if Delphi at Hoover Dam? That's a weird coincidence." Jason said.

"Oh trust me, it was not a coincidence at all. That's yet another very long story. I seem to never run out of those."

"She asked me more questions about who I was, but I had to get out of there. I didn't see her for a while after that."

Leo smiled mischievously. "So,Percy, I heard a very, um, interesting story at camp half blood. I was wondering if you could confirm the rumors."

"What rumors?"

"I heard that you kissed Rachel. So did you?"

"I, uh, I mean, I.. What does this have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question Percy. Did you or did you not kiss Rachel Dare?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows and gave Percy the look. That Percy-Jackson-I'm-gonna-kill-you-for-keeping-this-from-me look.

"Yeah, Percy, did you kiss her?"

"Oh no." Percy muttered.

A/N: I guess I should have a good reason for not updating for six months. But sadly, I don't. I was just being lazy and took a small break from writing this story. Then the small break turned into a long break. Anyway, I am most definitely going to finish this story in the next couple of weeks. Thank you guys so much for your reviews, follows, and favorites, because they make my day. Sorry for the wait):


	6. Chapter 6

"You have no right to get mad about it, Annabeth. It happened before we even started dating!"

"You still should've _told_ me."

"uh guys, look I didn't mean to..." Leo started. He was cut off my Annabeth's murderous look. She turned back towards Percy.

"So when did this kiss happen?"

Percy groaned. "During the Titan war, _before_ we started dating. Now can we talk about this later?"

Annabeth gave him her best "I'm gonna kill you later" look. "Fine, but we are not done with this conversation."

Percy sighed. "So where was I? Once I caught up with the others I figured out that it was Athena in the elevator."

"So my mom helped you out? Hmm so maybe she doesn't completely hate your guts."

"No I'm pretty sure she still does. She was just trying to help save you. Anyways there were these two bronze statues that were a gift to Zeus from Athena. I figured that Athena wanted Thalia to pray to Zeus to help us, and it worked. The statues came to life and flew us away."

"No fair." Jason grumbled. "Jupiter has never answered any of my prayers."

"The statues dropped us off in San Francisco and we searched for old man Nereus. Zoe dressed me in homeless people clothing and told me to look for a guy who stinks."

"Percy dressed as a homeless man? I would've paid to see that." Leo said.

"So you just went around sniffing random homeless people?" Hazel asked.

"Precisely. I knew I'd found him when I found this homeless man that smelled like expired sea water. I don't think that's even a thing, but if it was that's exactly what he would smell like. I had to grab hold of him and not let go until he gave me an answer to my question, which was super gross."

"We asked him about the big bad creature that was supposed to bring about the downfall of Olympus. He told me that it was Bessie. Apparently she was really a he, and he was the Ophiotaurus. It was killed thousands of years ago. Apparently if someone killed Bessie and sacrificed his entrails to a fire, they would have the power to destroy the gods."

"Yikes." Piper commented.

"Yikes is correct. The ophiotaurus was reborn which was why the titans were after it. Then the manticore appeared and told us that his plan was to have Thalia kill Bessie on her sixteenth birthday and overthrow Olympus."

"She told him no way, right?" Jason asked.

"That's the thing. Thalia hesitated like she was considering it."

Jason shook his head. "Why would she do that."

"It makes sense." Frank said. "Sometimes power is hard to resist."

"Thalia snapped out of it, though, and we prepared to fight. We were going to be cornered so we sent an iris message to camp half blood in hopes that Chiron would help us. Mr. D was there instead."

"Mr. D is the last person I'd want to see in a near death situation." Annabeth said.

"I thought for sure we were dead. He seemed like he couldn't care less that we were about to die. He said that he might help us out if we said please. It took every ounce of strength I had to choke the words out, but I said them and surprisingly it worked. He made the guards go crazy and killed the manticore. It was kind of amazing."

"Weird that he helped you out." Annabeth said.

"Eh. I think he likes me more than he would care to admit. After that we decided that Grover should take Bessie back to camp, and I offered my lion skin cloak to my father as a sacrifice to grant them safe passage by sea."

"Why would you give that up?" Piper asked.

"Invincibility isn't everything. I'm awesome without it, you know."

"Yeah, ok" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"It's true and you know it. Zoe told us that we needed to go to her home, the garden of the Hesperides. Before that we made a stop at Annabeth's dad's house."

"That must've been interesting." Annabeth said.

"Your parents are way cool, Annabeth. Her stepmom made us food. Zoe and your father bonded over Sopwith Camels."

"Uh, camels?" Hazel inquired.

"They're a type of biplane." Annabeth answered. "My dad is obsessed with military history."

"He let us borrow his car and we were off to Mount Tamalpais, which was probably a bad decision since we ended up totaling it. You guys fought there, right Jason?"

Jason nodded. "That is not a fun place."

"You're absolutely right." Percy said. "All of a sudden lightening struck the car and we all flew out of it. Thalia's shield stopped shrapnel from hitting us. I called out for Zoe and she appeared but told me to shush so I wouldn't wake the dragon Ladon."

"We reached the garden and it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. A huge dragon was guarding the apples of immortality, though, and he did not look like someone you wanted to piss off. Then, Zoe's four sisters appeared."

"Were they still mad at Zoe?" Hazel asked.

"Mad is an understatement. They still completely disowned Zoe. They told her that she would die if she tried to get past the dragon and fight the general. Then Zoe did something either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. She woke the dragon."

"This probably won't end well." Leo said.

"Zoe told us to go around the edges of the garden while she distracted Ladon. Her sisters called her a fool and left. Ladon seemed to remember Zoe but then he went crazy and attacked her. We managed to get away but Zoe had a wound on her side. She said it was nothing but I knew she was in pain."

"We reached Mount Othrys, the Titans' base. It was where the Titan Atlas was forced to hold up the sky. Instead of Atlas holding up the sky, though, it was Artemis. The weight looked like it was literally crushing her."

"I can't even imagine what it's like to hold the weight of the sky on your shoulders." Hazel shook her head.

"Trust me, it's not fun. It was so strange seeing the goddess in pain. Artemis told us to leave because it was a trap, but Zoe ran to her anyways. Then the general, Luke, and Annabeth showed up. Annabeth was tied and gagged and Luke's sword was at her throat."

Annabeth shuddered. "Being a captive is so not fun."

"I figured out that Atlas was the general. Then, even more shockingly I found out that he was Zoe's father. Biggest plot twist in Greek mythology if you ask me."

"Everything is a plot twist to you, seaweed brain." Annabeth laughed.

"Hey, I'm getting better at it. I could totally see the family resemblance after that. Luke tried to get Thalia to join him and slay Bessie, but she resisted and they fought. There was a huge army coming after us so we had to act fast. I charged Atlas, which might've been the dumbest decision I'd ever made in my life."

Leo whistled in appreciation. "That took serious guts, Jackson."

"Maybe, but Atlas swatted me aside like a pesky fly. I raised my sword to defend myself but it felt as heavy as a bag of rocks. I realized that it was the curse that Ares had put on me when we fought. My sword failed me at the moment I needed it most."

"Wow, that must've sucked." Frank said.

"Yeah, it did. He knocked me aside again and I fell at Artemis's feet. Zoe distracted him but I knew that I didn't stand a chance. Artemis told me to run but I had another stupid idea. The line from the prophecy popped into my head. The titan's curse must one withstand. I told her to give me the sky so she could fight Atlas."

"It's a miracle you haven't died already." Jason said.

"I know right. Artemis told me that it would crush me. I argued that Annabeth held it but she said that Annnabeth had the spirit of a true huntress and I didn't."

"Ha-ha" Annabeth laughed.

"Yeah, whatever." Percy rolled his eyes. "I cut off her chains anyways and kneeled next to her. We held the sky together for a moment and the weight was unbearable. It felt like I was being crushed. Then Artemis slipped out and the pain was unimaginable. I can't explain what it felt like. My bones felt like they were melting."

The others shuddered at the thought of holding that much weight.

"I heard Grover's voice in my head telling me not to give up. It took a lot of strength but I managed to hold up the sky. The fights kept raging on in front of me. Artemis was holding out against Atlas but suddenly he knocked her to the ground. He was about to strike when Zoe dove between them and shot an arrow at him. It hit him but Atlas swept her aside and she fell into the rocks."

"oh no." Hazel said.

"Artemis managed to overpower Atlas and kick him over her and back into the sky. I rolled out of the way as Atlas fell into me and he was back to holding up the sky."

"Nice." Leo said.

"Thalia backed Luke up onto the edge of a cliff. Annabeth begged her not to, but she kicked him off of the cliff."

"I can't believe I still had faith in him." Annabeth muttered.

"The army was still advancing, but the most amazing thing happend."

Annabeth smiled. "My dad appeared in his plane and gunned down the monsters. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen."

"That's pretty bad ass for a mortal." Leo said.

"Yup. Then Artemis summoned her silver chariot." Percy said. "It was pulled by reindeer."

"Like Santa's sleigh." Piper commented.

Percy smiled. "Yup. We got in the chariot and flew away from the mountain escorted by Annabeth's dad. There was no time to celebrate, though, because Zoe was hurt."

 **A/N: I don't know if anyone is still reading this story, but it's about time I finished it. Thank you to everyone who left nice reviews and motivated me to keep writing. One chapter to go:)**


	7. Chapter 7

Percy's expression was sad as he recalled that night. "After we landed at Crissy field, we tried to help Zoe, but there wasn't anything we could do. Artemis said that she could try to heal the poison, but Zoe refused."

"She must've known." Jason realized. "The line of the prophecy. _One shall perish by a parent's hand._ She knew that she line was probably about her but she went on the quest anyway."

"That's pretty freaking heroic." Leo said.

Percy nodded. "It was. Before she died she told me that I was nothing like Hercules. She told me that she was honored that I carried this sword." He took out his pen and turned it over in his hand.

"That's probably the only compliment you'll ever get from a hunter." Annabeth laughed softly.

Percy smiled. "Yeah, probably. The rest of the hunters still hate my guts. Anyway, Zoe passed away and it was devastating."

Annabeth nodded. "Artemis put her hand over Zoe's mouth and spoke a blessing. Silvery smoke came out of her mouth and into Artemis's hand, and Zoe's body disappeared. Artemis released the silver dust into the sky."

"I'll never forget it." Percy said. "Artemis said, _Let the world honor you, my Huntress. Live forever in the stars._ Then a new constellation appeared in the sky. A girl with a bow, running across the sky."

The seven stared up at the constellation, which seemed to glow a little brighter than it had before.

"That's beautiful." Hazel said, staring at the constellation in wonder.

"Yeah. So that's the story. Every time I see the stars it reminds me of the sacrifice Zoe made to save Artemis. She makes me want to be a better hero."

"She sounds great." Frank said. "What happened after that?"

"Artemis sent blackjack and two other Pegasi to transport us to Olympus. And the gods basically debated on whether or not they should kill us."

"Fun." Piper said.

"Sounds like the gods." Jason mused.

"You would think we would get thanks for saving the world and all." Percy shook his head. "Walking into Olympus never ceases to amaze me. It's so beautiful and full of life."

"No one at camp Jupiter ever gets to go to Olympus." Frank grumbled.

"We've got to change that. Annabeth got to redesign it after it was destroyed in the Titan war. I didn't think it was possible, but it's ten times more beautiful."

"You got to design Olympus, Annabeth? No way." Piper said.

Annabeth blushed. "It was nothing."

"She's being too modest. Anyway, walking into the Olympian council is one of the most nerve wracking experiences ever. There's so much power in that room. Any one of the gods could kill you with a snap of their finger."

"A lot of them would like to." Annabeth commented.

"True. Athena and Ares tried very hard to get me and Thalia killed. They said that it was dangerous to keep us alive because of the great prophecy. Personally, I think Ares was just holding a grudge after the last butt kicking I gave him."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Youve got a big head, seaweed brain."

Percy grinned. "And you love me for it. During this whole argument. Artemis did something totally unexpected. She offered Thalia to join the hunt and become her new lieutenant."

"So that's how she became lieutenant." Jason smiled.

"Yeah. We were all surprised, but Thalia said that she didn't want Kronos to tempt her anymore, and that she wanted a new family. She basically dumped the prophecy onto me."

Hazel raised her hand. "Uh, I mean it _is_ a prophecy. It was probably meant to be about you all along."

Percy shrugged. "Doesn't mean I have to like it. After Thalia joined the hunt, the attention went back to Bessie. I begged the Olympians to not destroy him. My dad vouched for me on his honor. He said that he would build an aquarium on Olympus for Bessie, and convinced the other Olympians that I wouldn't betray them."

Jason whistled. "That's a big risk your dad took."

"Yeah." Piper said. "I wonder what would have happened to him if you _had_ betrayed them."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Piper." Percy shot her a look.

"Just saying." She shrugged.

"So after the gods decided not to kill us, they threw us a party. Let me tell you, Olympian parties are a thousand times better than regular ones. The Nine Muses play whatever music you like. There's godly food and mortal food alike. You can't go wrong with either type."

"If we make it through this quest alive," Leo said. "The least the gods can do is throw us a party for all our troubles."

Everyone else agreed.

"The gods kept coming around and congratulating me, which was pretty odd since they'd just been trying to kill me a while before that. My father talked to me for about the second time in my life."

"That's two more times than I've talked to my father." Jason muttered.

"He told me that Luke was still alive, which wasn't the best news. Then Athena basically threatened me and told me that my fatal flaw would destroy the world and all."

"Sounds like my mom." Annabeth said.

"After the party we went back to camp half-blood. Everyone was on edge because we were all worrying about the fact that Luke was preparing to attack the camp the next summer. Then Nico di Angelo came and I realized that I had to tell him about Bianca."

"I would not have wanted to be in your shoes." Hazel sympathized.

Percy grimaced. "Nico didn't take the news well. He started yelling at me and telling me that he hated me and wished I was dead. I felt terrible. I had broken my promise and failed to keep his sister safe. Then all of a sudden the skeletons that had been chasing us on the quest appeared."

"How did they get through the camp's barriers?" Piper asked, confused.

"I have no idea. Nico yelled at them to go away, and a fissure formed in the ground. It swallowed the skeletons up and closed again. That's why there's a crack in the floor in the dining pavilion."

"I was wondering why that was there." Leo said.

"Nico ran into the woods and I tried to follow but slipped over the stone statue that Bianca had asked me to give him. It was a statue of Hades. I hadn't realized the Nico was a son of Hades until that moment."

"Annabeth and Grover helped me search for hours but Nico was nowhere to be found. Only later did we find out that he had found an entrance into the labyrinth."

Hazel nodded. "Nico told me about discovering the labyrinth. It must've been so scary for him."

"We decided to not tell anyone about Nico being a son of Hades. It just would've put him in more danger."

"But how did he make it through the labyrinth? Did you guys end up going in after him?" Frank asked.

"That, my friend, is a story for another time. This pretty much wraps up this one. We had saved Artemis and Annabeth, but lost some amazing friends along the way. The world was still in danger, though, but everything was fine for the time being."

"That was a nice story." Piper yawned. "But I'm about to knock out. I need sleep."

"Yeah, some of us should try to rest. I'll take first watch with Leo. The rest of you should try to sleep for a while." Jason said.

The rest of the seven wandered off, but Percy and Annabeth lingered for a while, cuddling under the stars.

"You know," Percy said. "I thought that Artemis was going to offer you the position of lieutenant instead of Thalia. I was scared out of my mind."

Annabeth smiled. "Then you know exactly how I felt when you were about to become a god."

"We've been through a lot together, huh?"

"Yeah, we've come a long way. We couldn't have done it without the help of people like Zoe, though." She said sadly.

"She reminds me of Bob. And Damasen." Percy stared at the constellation.

"Yeah, she does. We'll make their sacrifices worth it." Annabeth got up and reached for Percy's hand. "C'mon seaweed brain, walk me to my room. And on the way you can tell me all about your kiss with Rachel."

"Oh gods." Percy groaned, but he grabbed her hand and let her pull him away from the night. He looked back at the stars and smiled. He would make it through this quest. For Zoe.

* * *

 **A/N: It took a couple years, but I'm proud to say that I finished my first ever fanfiction story! The Titan's Curse is probably my favorite pjo book after The Last Olympian. I would really appreciate it if you guys left a review and let me know if you liked it, or if there is anything I could do better for future stories. Thank you for your follows, favorites, and reviews. They really meant a lot to me. If you would like me to do a story like this about any of the other books, please let me know. Thanks for the support and patience:)**


End file.
